Brad Pitt to Star in 'War Machine,' an Original Movie for Netflix!

Here’s some super cool news – Brad Pitt will star in a new original movie that is set to debut on Netflix!

The 51-year-old actor will star in and produce War Machine, a provocative satirical comedy that will debut on the streaming service and in select theaters in 2016.

War Machine concerns a four star, “rock star” general whose lethal reputation and impeccable track record vaults him to command the American war in Afghanistan. Determined to win the “impossible” war once and for all with a radical new approach, the general and his motley staff of commanders and press advisers race across the globe navigating delicate international alliances and troop requests, the charged battlefield of Washington politics, the voracious appetite of the media, and the day-to-day management of the war itself – all the while struggling to stay connected to the lives of men and women out in the field.

“We are so excited to be a part of the inspiring commitment by Netflix to produce cutting-edge content and to deliver it to a global audience” Brad said in a statement.

The movie will be directed by David Michod, who directed the recent films Animal Kingdom and The Rover.

Thanks Jared!
This sounds awesome, what a great role for Brad – plus as you guys said re the romantic thriller, yay for Marion, and no Keira, lol.
Ooooh and finally a new thread – seems we’ve only been waiting, like forever.

http://deadline.com/2015/06/netflix-brad-pitt-war-machine-general-stanley-mcchrystal-movie-1201439353/?Game Changer! Netflix Lands ‘War Machine’, Brad Pitt’s Next Star Vehicle
EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has acquired distribution rights to War Machine, the David Michod-directed drama which will star Brad Pitt as a four-star rock star U.S. military general. The character is patterned after Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for a time the commanding general of international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The film is a satirical comedy inspired by the bestselling book The Operators: The Wild And Terrifying Inside Story Of America’s War In Afghanistan, by the late journalist Michael Hastings. Script was written by Michod, whose credits include Animal Kingdom and The Rover. Pitt and his Plan B cohorts Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce with Ian Bryce.

This picture package was on Deadline’s list of his Cannes titles, but Pitt and his reps have for several weeks been down the road with Ted Sarandos and his Netflix cohorts on an alternative strategy. With this deal, Sarandos has an opportunity to make the kind of seismic move in features as he did with TV series like House Of Cards. This will be the biggest investment Netflix will have made so far in a feature film, in the $30 million range. It is also the first time Netflix has really gotten hold of a film with one of the biggest global A-list movie stars, in his prime, along with his producing cohorts whose recent credits include Best Picture winner 12 Years A Slave and Best Picture nominee Selma.

The streaming service continues to establish itself in countries around the world — itjust announced Italy, Portugal and Spain to raise its penetration to more than 150 countries — and is expected to be in even more by the time this movie is ready for a qualifying theatrical run, and then a big Netflix worldwide bow late in 2016.

Plan B acquired the Hastings book last year and originally it seemed like a straight nonfiction film. It has instead been turned into a fictionalized satire. The book captured McChrystal in his cocky glory, and focused on the backrooms and politics of war and the high-stakes maneuvers and political firestorm that shook the country. Hastings, who followed McChrystal around Europe and Afghanistan for a month in 2010 for a Rolling Stone article, quoted the general badmouthing the White House and its handling of the war. That proved to be his undoing; after Rolling Stonepublished the article “The Runaway General,” McChrystal was ordered back to D.C. by President Obama, and McChrystal tendered his resignation there.

Even though this is sophisticated subject matter and not the popcorn fare that studios covet, any studio or independent distributor would have salivated over releasing a movie with Brad Pitt as its star. But it is also the kind of movie that is often hard pressed to find a large theatrical audience, and P&A is exorbitant to chase that business. Pitt and his advisers instead decided to experiment with the idea that potentially more people would see the film through the Netflix global streaming subscriber base. Deadline has reported that when Netflix makes a deal like this — or on a movie like the Cary Fukunaga-directed Idris Elba-starrer Beasts Of No Nation or the four movies that will star Adam Sandler and be produced by his company — its model eliminates the possibility for overages because the priority is the streaming service. We’ve heard that Netflix will pay 130% of a film’s budget. In order to get this coup, it paid at least that much or more, but it potentially knocks down a wall that could give Netflix a real shot at movie-star-driven pictures that want one-stop shopping. Netflix will also heavily market the movie.

“War Machine is a rip-roaring, behind-the-facade tale of modern war decision-makers, from the corridors of power to the distant regions of America’s ambitions,” said Sarandos, the chief content officer of Netflix. “Brad and David are a perfect team to make this timely, compelling and entertaining film.”

Said Pitt: We are so excited to be a part of the inspiring commitment by Netflix to produce cutting-edge content and to deliver it to a global audience.”

Said Michod: “I’m humbled to be making a big, bold movie about the whole sprawling, complex, cumbersome and crazy machinery of modern war and the many lives it touches.”

Pitt has hardly abandoned the traditional theatrical release that launched his star. He wrapped By The Sea, the Universal film with Angelina Jolie, who directed. After he wraps War Machine, Pitt will join Marion Cotillard in an untitled Steven Knight-scripted period spy thriller that will be directed by Robert Zemeckis for Paramount. He will then reprise in a sequel to the zombie apocalypse hit Wold War Z, which is being scripted by Knight and will be directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, with Plan B producing.

Again, awesome freaking news!! Not sure what’s it about but Brad in a comedy is always awesome. And maybe Angelina can get all fascinated with this character as she was with Chad LOL!

wika

Interesting that they named it “spy thriller” instead of romantic thriller. Wonder how much spy and how much romance there are? I hope it’s as good as The Tourist- or better!

Felinelilly

Can’t wait!

Beck

I think it’s great that Brad is doing this kind of innovative stuff as a producer and an actor. I hope it pays off, but I’m not worried. Plan B knows what it’s doing. And Netflix has produced so much good tv that I see no reason the same can’t be done with movies. Trying not to fangirl too much but this is so exciting!! The Jolie Pitts always taking risks, love love love.

wika

I know!!! All of Brad’s upcoming projects sound really interesting. And with Marion Cotillard onboard for the untitled spy thriller, that’s like a cherry on top! And Mummy is doing up all the things she love most – deeper involvement with UNHCR, going for conferences etc… The JPs are truly living their lives!

Animal Kingdom helmer David Michod wrote the screenplay and will direct the satire, originally titled The Operators and now dubbed War Machine, which will be produced by Pitt’s Plan B. New Regency and RatPac Entertainment, who were once onboard the project, are no longer involved.

The film, which begins shooting in August, will be streamed in 2016 on Netflix and get a theatrical release as well.

Based on the late Michael Hastings’ controversial best-seller, The Operators centers on the commanding general of international and U.S. forces in Afghanistan and offers a behind-the-scenes portrait of our military commanders, their high-stakes maneuvers and the ensuing political firestorm that shook the United States when he was forced to resign. Pitt will star as Gen. McChrystal.

The project has been around since Pitt optioned Hastings book, which stemmed from a Rolling Stone article, in 2013. Michod boarded the project a year ago and began adapting the screenplay.

It is a bold move for Netflix, their biggest investment yet. Their money is on Brad, they are very aware of his box-office draw. Although it will be streaming on Netflix, at the same time they will release it on theaters and will be eligible for Oscar consideration. Kudos to Brad and Plan B — they are on a roll !

wika

If this will be filmed in August, and spy thriller and WWZ2 comes after this… wouldn’t that mean that there is a higher chance that spy thriller and WWZ2 be filmed next year?

Lily

They definitely will film wwz2 next year, the release date is announced, when will Spy thriller be filmed?

toastie postie

I definitely won’t be dropping my Netflix streaming, that’s for sure. Watching a new series on there tight now.

toastie postie

Thanks for making my day!

toastie postie

Probably 1/3 romance, since it’s also about the daughter?

wika

Iirc based on the info released by dudline they are filming spy thriller after he films the Netflix one.

GroundControl500

Great news! It sounds like it’s the General McChrystal story. Is it? Plan B has become the most innovative production company around. Brad’s vision has certainly produced delicious fruit. You know I bet he couldn’t be happier or more proud that his first Oscar was for producing a film he championed and struggled to get made. One would be hard put to name a member of the film community who has contributed more to celebrating and lifting the film industry.

sienna sienna

Happy for David Michod! He is so talented! Wish him the best.

The Rover was a brilliant film!

toastie postie

Yes, it is.

changeling

Filming might be in one of European countries again, just like Fury. Tax incentives are very attractive over there and considering most of scenes will be Afghanistan-like. The Jolie-Pitts might stay longer in Miraval.

Felinelilly

It’s really great to see all these people and networks like HBO and Netflix clamoring to work with Brad. He and Plan B so deserve this, everything they put out for the viewing public is a gem.

GroundControl500

All men do. I overgeneralize but not by much.

War brings out the best and worst in mankind. It’s natural setting for narratives be they drama or even comedy. All lovers of storytelling appreciate a good war story. Angie be another.

Lily

The movie is $30 million budget, Netflix pays 130% budget. Cool

Observer2

What? Even though it’s not confirmed. Marion Cotillard for the WW2 movie?

Oh, please, please, make it so. She’s a terrific actress. And that alone.

But, the pure beauty of the irony and the schadenfreude for the NOT #1 snubbed is just more CFG!

Now onto The War Machine that Netfilix has acquired, was it always going to be a satirical comedy of Gen. Stanely McChrystal? Cause Dudline seems confused. They call it a drama too. LOL

Beck

Love when Brad works with (relatively) underawarded auteurs. Other than someone like Leo who stays in his Scorsese box.

Observer2

And M&MS, could sorta be described as a war movie too. LOL

JPFamily

O2 – Yeah hopefully Marion will be confirmed – and as for Dudline, well what can I say!
bap – sorry for confusing you re Angelina’s Elle cover from last year. Plus you were asking about when she will be attending the African Union Summit – as I said a few days ago, we don’t have confirmed dates as yet. However, the high-level meetings take place on the final two days – 14th+15th so that may well be when we will see her.

UN Refugee Agency ‏@Refugees 39 minsAhmed is like other teenagers, but he’s also a refugee. This #WorldRefugeeDay, take a moment to learn more
Cate Blanchett wants you to know Ahmad, for World Refugee Day 2015https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvzIKidS44U

What an amazing story:http://www.unhcr.org/5575bf826.htmlSyrian sisters repay a mother’s selfless care and love in Damascus
DAMASCUS, Syria, June 8 (UNHCR)– Every morning, Amal,* a single mother, wakes up early to get her children ready for school. She feels good, because she knows they will be safe and free from any immediate threat of conflict.

The 42-year-old arrived in the Syrian capital a year ago after a long and dangerous journey over the past four years from their home area of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad in southern Damascus. Amal last saw her husband three years ago and has for the past year been living with their eight children, aged 12 to 21 years, in the Khan Danoon shelter.

“We haven’t heard any news of my husband since he went missing,” said the dedicated mother. “I found myself responsible for raising eight children alone. I’ve always tried to cover the absence of their father so that my children don’t feel the loss.” She doesn’t like to talk about their escape from the war zone or her husband’s disappearance.

She worked hard to provide food and basic needs for her children. “I’ve earned a living from house cleaning, knitting, crocheting and embroidery,” said Amal. “I’ve tried to earn enough to give my children living conditions similar to back home.”

Amal’s situation was made even harder by a deteriorating medical condition. She is a diabetic with a heart disorder. Her children rallied and found jobs to raise money for a badly needed heart operation.

Two of her daughters, twenty-two-year-old Rasha,* a psychology student, and secondary school student Rawaa,* aged 19, volunteered with a local non-governmental organization called Al-Nada, that runs vocational training and remedial classes in the Khan Danoon shelter with support from UNHCR. Now both are employed as teachers.

With the benefits the two girls were receiving, Amal was able finally to get cardiac surgery. “When they said I should undergo the surgery and that they would help pay, I was overwhelmed,” Amal said. “Those who were my little children one day, and now they are grown up and taking responsibility for me.”

Now recovered from the surgery, Amal, who once dreamed of being a pharmacist, has resumed her old activities and provides advice and practical assistance to women in the shelter.

UNHCR, along with NGO partner Al-Nada, is supporting several activities for women and children. These include remedial classes, vocational training, psychosocial support and recreational activities. Since August last year, 450 women have benefitted from the vocational training. Small grants to start businesses are also available.

Amal is proud of her family’s achievements and she hopes that someday they will return to their home and resume their old life. “No matter how we tried to overcome difficulties, it’s still a life that cannot be compared with our past life.”

You know the hens are going to say “if Marion did not steal ticky’s Oscar spot she’d work with brad!!” LMAO.

But yeah I really love how he’s working with Marion. It’s like making a statement: Marion is talented and deserving of an Oscar nomination. Especially when brad says he’s focused on working with a great talented cast. You know, none of that ticky bs. LOL

So first he’s getting nightangle out because he feels angry for David’s snub. Then he’s working with the person who took over ticky’s so called “spot” LOL!

Felinelilly

The best kind of war movie.

Observer2

M&MS just flipped the tag.

Instead of it being, make love not war, M&MS is: make war, then love. LOL

Observer2

Ticky not only loses roles to Academy Award winning actresses. She also loses nominations to them too.

Though, to be honest, she did not lose out to a nomination due to Marion. Ticky never stood a chance at getting one. Marion did. She’s a previous winner and well respected in the industry and by the Academy. Two things Ticky is NOT.

Now, had Marion not received her well deserved nomination, she would have been snubbed.

bap

No JPF it is not your fault. I miss read the article. I got to excited about it.

bap

Thank you for the conference update!

lyric

Great article about very good mother and her awesome family.

changeling

I don’t think it is the WW2.

The movie with Marion Cotillard is still untitled. It is a spy-thriller script by Steven Knight that will be directed by Robert Zemeckis for Paramount. Brad and Cotillard are two serious great actors. That would be terrific.

Observer2

No, the movie that netflix acquired, in Dudline’s write up they call in a drama in the first paragraph and then later in the write up, they say the War Machine will be a satirical comedy.

My apologies, as I just re-read my post and it does look like I’m talking about the same movie.

I just edited my post to hopefully, make it more clear that I’m talking about both films.

toastie postie

My husband certainly did. He often thought of staying in the Army. It was Military vs Architecture and Architecture finally won.

changeling

O2, this is just my opinion. I followed McChrystal’s career. I remember the day he resigned, I was glued to the television and there was a breaking news about his resignation. He made some remarks about Obama’s mishandling of the war, then he was asked back to WAS DC and he quit.

On that Netflix ‘War Machine’ movie, if there will be a female lead, I think her role will be minor. There is nothing in McChrystal story about any woman, except of course, his wife.

Observer2

I think that we’re still having a miscommunication.

I don’t think Marion C. will be in War Machine.

I was asking if War Machine, was going to be a drama or satirical comedy as Dudline says both. So, did Dudline just not have an editor read the article and see the discrepency between the two ways it’s reporting what the movie will be?

This from Dudline about War Machine:

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has acquired distribution rights to War Machine, the David Michod-directed drama which will star Brad Pitt as a four-star rock star U.S. military general.

The film is a satirical comedy inspired by the bestselling book The Operators:

I know that it’s being reported by Dudline that Marion will star with Brad in the WW2 romantic thriller that is being directed by Zemeckis and being dist. by New Regency and Paramount.

Dawne

I hardly think it is going to be satire……….the subject matter is too real and the story is based on real events…..

Dawne

When the moon turns to cheese Ticky woud ever work with or for Brad Pitt. He didn’t want to work with her in the Deadend years, even trolls cannot be that deluded.

Observer2

That’s why I was confused. When it was announced originally, two years ago, it was a drama.

Then Dudline says both in this write up. And then THR says it’s going to be a satirical comedy, which they probably got from Dudline.

bap

Brad did guess starting role on Friends, for which I never really understood why

Dawne

Yes, even using the word ‘Snubbed’ next to a bad flim no one saw……..must have just been the final straw for a lot of the players in HW…….the temerity of the Hairball and her overpaid bitch.

Dawne

Don’t think the Bradders is into the bed scenes…..

Dawne

yeah, like that is a big production……she ikely whined for months for that to happen….probably a quid pro quo thing so she’d get a featured story line………sorry, it doesn’t count.

Observer2

That was on her TV show that she had 5 co-stars on.

He’s never worked with her or wanted to in a movie. Not even during his stoned years.

He was never going to be a producer on any of her movies when they were optioned for her at Plan B. It was up to her and producer chick to get them made without him.

And he gave them to her when he gave her the boot and none of them have ever been made.

Wonderful to see pics of the family. Glad they made it safely to France.

Wow. This Netflix news is interesting. I need help from the fans who have a better understanding of film distribution that I do. Here’s my thought. I wonder if this experiment with Netflix is also a means for Brad to find out if there is another way to get film out there to the masses that may be passed up by major, or even minor, studios. There are plenty of people all over the world who don’t have access to theatres, esp., the art house types.

I know Brad is hooked up with New Regency, Fox et al., but if this works, esp., if this gets awards traction, it could really be the game changer that the headline proclaims. And Brad will lead the way for others get their work out there. Not just the Adam Sandler dreck, but high quality work. It started with Fincher, whoooo just happens to be besties Brad.

I see I am kind of rambling here, but I just feel there is more to this than we know right now. Daddy’s got a master plan going here, and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.

Still wish he would set up his own distribution arm. I would love to see, Brad Pitt Studio Mogul, but I guess he has enough on his plate.

And Cotillard??!!! We need to get this confirmed!

Oh My Goodness. If Marion is confirmed, you just know the hens will claim that Brad was behind her stealing Poor Jenny’s nomination.

Observer2

And she has her paid PR lackey are making sure that gets into ever item written about her now.

Which, again, she and he are tone deaf. It’s not going to endear her to those she wants to be endeared to.